By ISA SAID, Dutse
Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima has said the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are beginning to deliver positive outcomes, assuring Nigerians that the administration’s difficult policy decisions are laying a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth and increased investment.
Speaking yesterday while declaring open the Jigawa State Economic and Investment Summit (J-INVEST 2026) at Bonquet Hall Govt House Dutse, in Dutse, Shettima said although the reforms came with initial challenges and sacrifices, they were necessary to reposition the nation’s economy and restore investor confidence.
“We are taking difficult but necessary decisions to place our economy on the path of sustainable growth. Those choices have required sacrifice, but they are the right choices,” the Vice President said.
He noted that key reforms, including the Business Facilitation Act, foreign exchange liberalisation and measures to improve the ease of doing business, have strengthened transparencyU
and enhanced Nigeria’s attractiveness to both domestic and foreign investors.
According to him, the ongoing economic reforms are complemented by investment promotion initiatives across the country, aimed at attracting private capital, creating jobs and accelerating economic diversification.
Also described the Electricity Act 2023 as one of the landmark reforms of the Tinubu administration, saying it has empowered states to license, generate, transmit and distribute electricity, thereby opening fresh opportunities for industrial development and private investment.
He stressed that Nigeria’s economic prosperity would largely depend on the ability of individual states to harness their comparative advantages.
“The strength of our federation is measured not by the wealth of the centre alone, but by the awakening of its constituent parts,” he said.
“A federation truly flourishes because every state discovers what it can become through the full realisation of its own economic potential.”
The Vice President commended the Jigawa State Government for hosting the investment summit, describing it as a strategic platform for showcasing the state’s enormous economic potential.
He particularly praised Jigawa’s remarkable contribution to Nigeria’s wheat production, noting that the state accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the country’s total wheat output during the last farming season.
“That is no ordinary achievement,” he said, while urging stakeholders to improve productivity, noting that Nigeria’s average wheat yield of 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare still falls below the output recorded in countries such as Ethiopia and South Africa.
Earlier, Governor Umar Namadi said the summit was conceived to translate Jigawa’s abundant resources into bankable investments capable of stimulating economic growth and creating employment opportunities.
“This Summit is designed as a working platform to move us beyond aspiration to disciplined execution,” the governor said.
Namadi disclosed that Jigawa possesses huge investment opportunities in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, healthcare and infrastructure, revealing that the state has facilitated 64 investments across critical sectors in the last three years.